Daily Archives: July 18, 2012

Seven million gardens concreted over to make driveways

July 18, 2012   simon   No comments

According to the RAC Foundation, up to seven million gardens have been covered with tarmac to provide driveways.

Apparently around 80% of Britain’s 26 million dwellings were built with a front plot. Almost a third of these plots have been turned into hardstanding. This means seven million front gardens now contain concrete and cars rather than flowers and grass, a total area roughly equivalent to 100 Hyde Parks.

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Bridge becomes Lego homage

July 18, 2012   simon   No comments

A dull bridge in the industrial city of Wuppertal in Germany has been turned into a tribute to everyone’s favourite childhood toy. And for once, the occasional German weakness for bright clashing colours (e.g. the VW Polo Harlequin), has found a productive outlet. The bridge in question had been converted from a disused railway to become a walking path, but the ugly concrete was not really in keeping with the spirit of a nice Sunday afternoon stroll.
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VW now more Asian than European

July 18, 2012   simon   No comments

While the French government has crisis talks about job losses at Peugeot, VW sales continue to soar. Worldwide sales for the first half of 2012 were up 8.9% to a nice round 4.5 million units.

Sales in central and eastern Europe were up 27.3% and sales in Germany rose 4.4%. Only Western Europe excluding Germany saw a fall of 5.7%. Sales in the USA were up by 22% and Asia saw a rise of 17.6% – to an incredible 2.8 million units.That means more than half of all VW group cars are now sold in Asia. That is why VW is the only “European” mainstream car manufacturer that is still doing well – it is not really European any more.

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Selling your car? Beware of thieves asking for test drives

July 18, 2012   simon   No comments

It is, alas, not unheard-of. Car thieves target car sellers, on the grounds that it is one of the few times they can get close to a car owner’s keys without raising suspicions. On one recent occasion, the thieves simply jumped the seller of a BMW M3, grabbed the keys and made off with the car. Another technique is for the thief to ask for a test drive, take the keys and drive off while the seller is still on the pavement, about to get in to the passenger seat. When a prospective buyer asks for a test drive, make sure you are sitting in the car whenever the keys are in his or her hands. That applies at the end of the test drive as well – a thief only needs you outside of the car for one second while they have the keys.
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Was the petrol price rigged, too?

July 18, 2012   simon   No comments

Hot on the heels of the LIBOR scandal (or Lie-bor, as some call it), comes news that the price of oil may not be truthfully set either. The G20 organisation which represents the 20 largest economies in the world (the UK is currently ranked at No. 7) asked the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) to look into the oil reporting market. The initial report says the current system of oil price reporting is “susceptible to manipulation or distortion.”
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